


bloody pirates

by allp_wips



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-22 04:00:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19659139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allp_wips/pseuds/allp_wips
Summary: "Are you telling me that out of all the vessels my decorated sister could have commandeered to smuggle me out of this planet in, she chose a pirate ship?"





	1. Chapter 1

"Are you telling me that out of all the vessels my decorated sister could have commandeered to smuggle me out of this planet in, she chose a  _ pirate ship _ ?"

The speaker is a tall woman, taller than Captain Alex Danvers by a damned two inches. This gives her the advantage of staring down at Alex from above a supercilious nose, her condescending glare accentuated by her sharp features, and her unruly waves of brown hair streaked with white.

On the whole, it's a picture aimed to intimidate, but all it does it set Alex on edge, like she's supposed to prepare for a war or something, when she doesn't even know who she's fighting.

"Pirates," General Astra says again, under her breath.

"We're not pirates," Alex says. "Officially, we're researchers."

"And currently, we're researching how fast we can get out of the Xerean system before their Stellar Force figures out that we stole Xeres 3's crown diamond," Lucy - Alex's chief navigation officer - puts in.

Astra's lip curls.

"If I had been in charge of the force, you wouldn't have made it out of Xeres 3's gravity well with the diamond. But then, Commander Faora-Ul has always been a little slow. She's just the type to let bloody pirates escape from right under her nose."

"Who're you to talk about us like that?" Alex fumes. "Word on the nets is that you're wanted on your home planet for terrorism."

"It was a matter of war," Astra corrects her coldly. "My crimes were not stealing others' property."

"No, it was just blowing it up, I hear," Alex mutters. She raises her voice. "The deal with your sister was to smuggle you out of this galaxy before you get arrested, not to listen to you evangelize about how we should see the light. How about you run off to your cabin and stay put there, so that the guards don't see you when they're screening us through?"

"Gladly," General Astra snipes back, before stalking off in the direction of her quarter, not even slowing down for Winn to catch up with her and show her the way.

Alex watches her exit with a frown, before moving back to her navigation officer.

"Are you sure we owe your girlfriend a favor?" she asks Lucy. "Do we really have to put up with  _ that _ ?"

Lucy flushes. "Alura is not my girlfriend! And yes, we do. You know we'd all have been rounded up at Xeres 3's space port, if she hadn't come through with diplomatic passes for us."

Alex sighs.

"Fine," she mutters, going back to her console, complaining to herself for lack of anyone else to listen to her. "What a snob. She's a disgraced ex-general. What's she got to be turning her nose up at us about?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lucy's line about research is 100% riffed from Good Omens.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The weird thing is, Astra ends up charming most of Alex's crew. Lucy, Alex can understand, for wanting to get into the good graces of her girlfriend's sister. But, soon enough in the week to follow, Winn and James and even Vasquez are singing Astra's praises, and that's just too much. Alex wonders why they can't see what's right under their noses: the woman's a snob. Just because Astra isn't turning her nose up at them anymore, is no reason to be cosying up to her.

It pisses her off, and Alex takes to doing what she often does when things piss her off: she goes to the gym. She's in there during her off-hours, practicing with a staff and trying to channel away her frustration through the exercise as J'onn had thought her, when she's interrupted.

"I didn't know anyone else still practiced with such primitive weapons."

It's Astra, watching her. Alex had known the woman likes to use the ship's gym sometimes, but she mostly seems to come and go at odd hours, when no one else is likely to be there, according to the logs. Then again, Alex also tries to make it to the gym during the down times, so that might be why they've run into each other.

Alex tries to ignore her, but it's really hard in a small space. "People don't come to the gym to trashtalk, you know?"

"I don't think they generally come here to brutalize every inanimate object in the room, either," Astra says, walking up and straightening over the various storage stands, exercise balls and rolled-up mats that have been knocked around all over the place.

Okay, so maybe Alex hasn't been following J'onn's teachings to the letter.

"What do you want?" she asks.

"How about a one-on-one match?" Astra asks, turning around to face her, after she puts the last mat away. "I'm sure taking your anger out on me would be far more effective."

Alex scoffs. "Yeah, right."

"It's only one round," Astra says. "What are you so afraid of?"

"Afraid of, really?" Alex asks. "Reverse Psychology 101 isn't going to work on me."

Astra sighs. "I'm simply looking to entertain myself, if I'm to be cooped up in this ship for two weeks."

Alex is about to refuse again, when a thought occurs to her. Not many people bother with learning one-to-one combat properly anymore. Alex has had it drilled into her by J'onn, her old captain, but most of the "superior" races - like Kryptonians - rarely bother to learn such things. When they do deign to learn it, it's in a half-assed way, for entertainment rather than to master the craft.

"Alright," she says, going over and picking another staff out of the storage rack. She tosses it to Astra, who catches it out of the air. "Try to keep up."

Alex tries not to let the grim determination show on her face, as they circle each other. She's going to wipe the floor with this woman, and pay her back in full for all the condescension that Astra has shown towards her and her crew.

It's a great plan. There's only one flaw in it: Astra is too good.

Fifteen minutes of furious blows and parries later, Alex finds herself pinned to the ground, with her staff knocked away. Astra bears down on her, pressing the length of her own staff dangerously close to Alex's throat.

"So much for putting up a fight."

"Fuck off," Alex grunts. "Let's see you fight when I put a bullet in your back."

That gets the staff pressed even closer against her throat. "Give in."

"Never." Alex grits her teeth, knowing she can't win at this point, but unwilling to give that last inch that would allow Astra to declare victory.

Finally, Astra gives an exasperated snort. Before Alex can react, she removes the staff from against her neck, grabs her by the collar of her shirt, and  _ throws _ her backwards, with such strength that Alex hits the opposite wall with a thud, sliding down to the ground.

"You know, quite an important part of fighting is knowing when you've lost."

Alex pulls herself up, and turns away from Astra, resisting the urge to throw her staff to the ground. Of all the people she had to lose against...

But, Astra's expression isn't gloating, when Alex turns back. She looks impressed, if anything.

"Not bad for a pirate," she says, and then, "Most people can't last more than a minute against me. Where did you learn to fight like that?"

Alex sidesteps her question. "I guess you're not bad yourself... for a terrorist."

"You think I'm a lot of things that I'm not."

Alex raises skeptical brows. "So, you didn't blow Daxamite ships up and violate your non-aggression treaty with Krypton's sister planet?"

"Oh no," Astra says matter-of-factly. "I very much did blow them up."

Alex stares at her.

"Our ships were sending aid supplies to the Aldebaraan system," Astra says. "Daxam's queen thought that blocking them was a good way to show off her planet's military strength."

"So you blew the Daxamite blockade's ships up," Alex says, feeling a a headache beginning to develop. She'll never understand intergalactic politics.

Astra shrugs, looking unrepentant. "They were unmanned. Daxam should have never sent them into neutral territory."

Alex shakes her head.

"And you think us pirates are criminals," she remarks, picking up the two staffs and walking away to slot them side by side into the storage stand. "We don't get up to a tenth of the amount of destruction you military lot get up to, once you put your mind to it."

When she looks back, Astra looks like she's been caught off-guard.

"I don't-" she begins, before starting again. "I did what was necessary."

"So do we," Alex says, with a sigh. "I don't want to discuss this anymore. I'll see you at dinner, General."

\---


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

By Earth time, which the ship is calibrated to, Astra stays with them for a week more, before they reach the secondary ship dock on Crasr 92, where they're supposed to be seeing her off. During that time, Alex revises her opinion of the woman slightly. Astra is maybe bearable to be around, when they're in the gym and sparring and her mouth is thankfully closed. And maybe she's a bit more bearable at other times, too, now that she's dropped the whole supercilious--as-fuck outwards demeanor.

Not that Alex is going to miss her when she's gone, or anything. That's taking things too far.

"Your okay, cap?" Lucy asks, as she whirs away at her control board. "You've been moping around a bit. You didn't even snap at Astra today."

"I'm fine," Alex grumbles. "Just working on getting through to J'onn."

They've picked up a jumpship of refugees that had gone astray two planets before, and she's trying to figure out how to get them to where they're trying to go, and still make it in time to the heist she'd arranged with J'onn's crew on the Kethilian system.

"Right," Lucy murmurs. She's still ostensibly focused on studying the star maps to reroute their course, but she continues talking as she works. "You know, she's gonna be gone as soon as we dock tomorrow, right? You should probably be making your move right now."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Alex says, frowning at the console and hoping that she's not flushing, "Focus on getting us to Kethilia 10 in time."

"Uh-huh," Lucy murmurs. "You got it, cap."

\---

Alex goes down with Astra to the dock at Crasr 92, not to see her off, really. Just to... scout the area. Yeah.

Astra seems unsentimental as she carries her bags, looking at the crowded dock around her with an air of interest, rather than defeat.

"Well, you're out," Alex says, as she nears the woman. "What now?"

Astra glances at her, before going back to looking around them.

"I think I'll take a tour around this system first, and enjoy my newfound freedom. Then, I suppose I'll have to return to Krypton, and see if cooler heads have prevailed."

Alex stares at her. "You do know there's a warrant out for your arrest on Krypton?"

Astra shrugs. "I have nowhere else to go, and I miss Alura and Kara."

Alex shakes her head. "So this whole detour was-"

"It saved me from getting thrown into prison right away," Astra says. "And it saved your bacon, too, as your navigation officer put it."

Alex rolls her eyes. Astra, however, looks a lot graver, as she takes both of Alex's hands in her own.

"Give Lucy my thanks," she says. "I've misjudged your crew, it seems. I looked down on them for being pirates, but spending time with you for the past two weeks, and seeing you help the people you meet, even when helping them goes against the law... in many ways you've proven to be more honorable than some of the highest decorated officers in the Kryptonian fleet."

Alex exhales, and looks away. "Yeah, well... I guess you're not too insufferable, either."

Astra raises her eyebrows. She looks amused rather than offended. "High praise coming from you, Captain Danvers."

Alex colors. "Shut up."

"I have a gift for you," Astra says.

Alex blinks. "What?"

Astra carefully takes a knife from out of her bag. Its handle is ornate and intricate, but Alex can see that the steel of the blade is strong, and tempered well, in the way that most forges don't know how to anymore, after such weapons went out of fashion.

"It'll be useless to you in most cases, of course," Astra says. "But, since you're so fond of such things, maybe it belongs with you more than with me."

"I didn't get you anything," Alex says. She takes the knife anyway, balancing it in her hand and trying out the edge. "...thanks."

"You gave me a way out," Astra says. "That was enough."

Before Alex can really register it, there's the quick press of lips against her cheek. Then, Astra is gone, having melted into the straggling crowd around the dock, leaving Alex alone with the knife.

\---


End file.
